The present invention relates to a skylight and especially to a skylight which can collect sunlight and disperse it within a building without penetrating the roof of the building and utilizes a solar energy collector transmitting light through flexible fiber optic cables to a light dispersion unit within a building.
In the past, it has been common to provide a wide variety of solar skylights which usually consist of a transparent polymer or glass covering of an opening in the roof of a building. This allows the light and solar energy to enter the building while keeping out the weather elements. A great deal of thought has gone into making the skylights weather-proof to prevent leaking around the edges of the opening in the roof by using various types of flashing and seals. In addition, prior skylights have generally been added to a building when the building is under construction since it is more difficult to add a skylight to an existing building. An existing building requires cutting an opening in the roof of the building and removing a portion of the roofing and thereby damages the integrity of the roof which may result in leaks and which can become points of entry by burglars. In addition to building the skylight through the roof, conventional skylights generally require the building of a passageway through the attic portion under the roof which increases the expense in the installation of the skylight.
Typical prior art skylights can be seen in the Bloxsom patent, U.S. Pat. No. 3,307,303, which shows a fireproof skylight assembly mounted on a frame with a raised wall over a short tunnel portion directing the solar energy through the roof of a building. In the Sutton patent, U.S. Pat. No. 5,099,622, a skylight is illustrated having an elongated tunnel which passes through the roof of a building and through the attic into a room in the building. The skylight or cover portion also includes a reflector for directing the light down the tunnel into the room. In the Greenwood patent, U.S. Pat. No. 5,175,967, is a natural light distributing apparatus having an elongated passageway from the skylight cover on a roof to a remote point within the building. The light from the skylight is reflected with a mirror set at a 45.degree. angle to distribute the light perpendicular to the passageway. In the Gilowski patent, U.S. Pat. No. 5,027,566, a window with reflective enclosure illustrates a bay window mounted such that a portion protrudes over the roof for collecting sunlight and is reflecting down and through the window and also has an interior wall window with reflective surfaces to direct light down a light tunnel through another window. The Malissa patent, U.S. Pat. No. 3,521,414, shows a more typical skylight for a building but in which one embodiment includes a domed top for directing light into a building.
In two patents by Mori, et al., U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,928,666 and 4,915,093, containers for accommodating a solar ray collecting device are illustrated in which a skylight is mounted to a roof in a conventional fashion with an opening through the roof but which includes a solar collection unit connected to an optical conductor cable which is passed through the roof and through the skylight tunnel to transmit light within the building through the roof. In the Mori patent, U.S. Pat. No. 4,589,400, a solar ray collecting device uses a solar ray collection portion placed under a transparent cup for collecting solar energy and coupling the solar energy to optical fibers which are collected in a horizontal shaft and then fed down a vertical shaft through the building roof. The vertical shaft is such that it can be rotated with the optical fibers passing therethrough. This patent also has a motorized control for varying the angle of the solar collector.
In contrast to these prior art patents to Mori and Mori et al., the present invention, which also uses a solar collector, has mirrored funnel shaped collectors for coupling to the fiber optic cables which are fed out of the housing of the collector and along and through a building wall and thereby does not affect the integrity of the building roof. Also, the interior light dispersion unit is mounted in the building to a ceiling where it effectively disperses the light. The solar collector of the present invention can be placed on the ground or on the side of a building as well as on the roof of a building for providing light to the interior of the building. The present invention can even be relocated to illuminate other interior areas or other buildings.